favorite recipes from a Northwest kitchen

Winter Salad with Oranges and Oil-Cured Olives

I always find a brightly-colored salad to be uplifting in wintertime. Lettuce may not be not a winter crop, but I like to overlook that fact and focus instead on salad as an opportunity to let winter citrus shine. And at this time of year fresh herbs are starting to peek up in the garden, which is a perfect excuse to supplement your salad greens with generous handfuls of parsley. The play of flavors and textures here—sweet, salty, bitter, crisp—will brighten any winter day.Zest your oranges first if they’re organic, of course, for the salad dressing and for making this or this or this. A mix of colors and flavors of oranges is nice too–those pinky ones above are Cara Caras, and blood oranges are at least as dramatic. If you are the sort of person who has it in you to supreme oranges, do so by all means. If you are not, steal my shortcut and simply shave off the peels with a sharp knife, then slice the fruit crosswise.

Winter Salad with Oranges and Oil-Cured Olives: Wash, dry, and tear a head of crisp green lettuce. Toss with a couple good handfuls of flat parsley leaves. Use a sharp knife to remove the peel and outer membrane from a few oranges (preferably in a variety of colors), then slice each thinly crosswise. Layer orange slices onto salad, then top with a handful of pitted and torn oil-cured olives and more parsley leaves. Just before serving, dress the salad with a citrus vinaigrette made with a grating of orange zest, 2 Tbsp. orange juice, 1 Tbsp. white wine or rice vinegar, a big pinch or two of salt, and 3 Tbsp. olive oil.

Love citrus in salads. And thank you for the reminder to zest! Sometimes I only remember when it’s too late. I’m jealous of your herbs, too. We had to tear out our herb garden when we rebuilt our beds and my plans to make an herb spiral have never come to fruition. Someday.

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